july said:

"Prince is not african"

We are ALL African.

"It's just my opinion Prince is mixed... Not to freak out the people who want him to be totally Black and that's it... "


I think you underestimate the extent of the classification of black.
Most of us are "multi-cultural", but many choose to embrace the culture they grow up in primarily. Since Prince is NOT bi-racial like Halle Berry (one white parent, one black parent), its pretty safe to assume that he grew up in BLACK culture. The "old" Prince was carmel-colored and unmistakeably black. (pre "dirty mind" era) It wasn't until the body makeup and caked on face makeup started until there was a so-called question. He and WB made his race a question. To the black community, there was NEVER ANY QUESTION. Ya'll (non-blacks) just have a hard time with the deprogramming. Even Prince calls himself a black man now. So WHY IS THERE A QUESTION? Even Lenny Kravitz, who IS bi-racial, identifies himself as a black man. Black comes in MANY shades.

I think what Ian said above was spot on.

He is very light, he wears tons of make-up - He looks like he was probably from interracial parents, and when he came onto the worlds radar with Purple Rain - the film portrayed him as having interracial parents, so the larger public had no reason to question he wasn't of mixed background.

Some people just love to put people in boxes, heavens forbid that some people don't put them in the correct box.

Romance1600 said:

Exactly...

BlaqueKnight said:

No, you're plain wrong...

Body make up. Prince did not wear body make up...

edit edit...
[This message was edited Mon Sep 8 1:00:04 PDT 2003 by july]

topic summary:

1. Prince is Black.

2. Most non-fans think he's mixed race (or even white).
(They also don't know he's released anything since TMBGITW)

3. Any negativism (is that a word?) towards Prince has had nothing to do with race.
.

Prince is black. He straightens his hair and this gives him an exotic look. Most black americans have mixed heritages...that is why we all come in so many colors and have so many different hair and body types. Does this matter..NO! His color is not the issue...he has created this image. Now the negativism comes from his decisions and the product he releases...I know plenty folk of all colors who are frustrated with his music...he used to be so different and refreshing and new. Now well...he's lost something and as fans we need to be honest and recognize this fact.

Romance1600 said:

uh, HELLO?? that was a MOVIE!!! that wasn't real...the fact that u need to be told this is sad...

july said:

and you're plainly blind

july said:

And I'm not black or white... I'm mixed Stop race labeling

LadyCabDriver said:

and you're close minded...
edit edit....
[This message was edited Mon Sep 8 2:24:33 PDT 2003 by july]

Challenging the need for Racial Labeling

by Francis Wardle, Ph.D.

We find ourselves in the middle of an interesting convergence: Tiger Woods' declaration that his parentage makes him proudly multiracial, and congressional hearings to establish a multiracial category on the 2000 census and other official government forms. Both of these events have produced considerable controversy.

Tiger Woods has been chastised for not declaring himself proudly African-American. And the census hearings generated vocal--and sometimes disparaging--opposition form a variety of experts and groups.

Ironically this opposition has come from traditional racial and ethnic minority groups and their leaders. Irony surrounds this issue. A racist law designed to prevent the contamination of the pure white race is now used by minority groups to prevent people from proudly declaring their multiracial identity. Further, women, minorities and people with disabilities continually challenge the way society views them, yet multiracial people are told, "because America has always viewed you as black, you must continue to view yourself as black."

The census form, and "voluntary" federal data collection documents, ask people to "self-identify." or make a choice regarding their racial and ethnic identity. When my daughter informed her teacher that she would have to check each racial and ethnic box to accurately represent her heritage, she was told, "no, you can only fill out one." This is neither selection, choice nor accuracy.

Maybe the net result of a new multiracial category will be what some people fear and many of us want: a challenge to the entire process of racial labeling, and the selection of the ultimate category: human being.

LadyCabDriver said:

What a ridiculous conclusion to incorrectly extrapolate from my post. I said nothing of the sort.

I was making the point that Prince at the height of his fame intentionally made himself appear ambiguous with regard to his race and sexuality.

I then proceeded to point out that the cartoonish pop-persona caricature of 80s Prince (which is what many people remember when they think of him) has often overshadowed Prince as a real person, as a great artist, and as a black man.

I say nothing of what he should or shouldn't have done, and I say nothing of whether it is right or wrong. It simply is the case. That is the brand Prince created for himself in the 80s, and being a black man was not a part of that brand. To the uninformed outsider, it appears that Prince had an epiphany and suddenly discovered his blackness in the 90s, but by then most mass-market media had lost interest. Of course we all know here, I hope, that he is a black man. That isn't up for debate, surely...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

He looks very different now, and acts very different.
He wears less makeup, and dresses less effeminately. His music is "blacker" now than his 80s crossover pop stuff. Also he himself brought his race to the discussion table in the 90s when he was having his problems with Warner Bros etc and the name change.

NuPwrSoul said:

A flippant and throwaway comment I made perhaps, and not one I meant seriously (that's why it has a little smiley face beside it, you see).

We were discussing the fact that most non-fans I have encountered were unaware of Prince being black. My comment had a context, and that was that RD was having real trouble understanding how someone might not know Prince's race.

RD seemed to think that everyone was aware of Prince's blackness. That isn't the case on this side of the Atlantic however, because he was never marketed as a black artist at the peak of his fame.

rdhull said:

... mannnnn...quit smokin' weed rd



it's got nothing at all to do with him being black... it's because he pushes things... people who love him in his raspberry beret jumpsuit might not dig him doin' his hendrixy thing... i for one hate the cheesy shit like "gold", yet love TRC... if people aren't into what he's doing at a particular time they might dog him...but he's been pretty outrageous... dudes like axl rose are far more one dimensional... i can't think of a single artist that has shown more diversity than prince


.
[This message was edited Mon Sep 8 3:46:45 PDT 2003 by MrBliss]

beautifulone7 said:

Guru... Make up your own mind...

july said:[quote]

Yep, Prince is Prince... Long live truth and freedom... No more stereotypes...

july said:[quote]

july said:

rdhull said:

I know a lot of people that have totally forgotten about Prince and that he's still around making music. I remember when I moved from Mpls. to San Francisco and people at my school would ask where I was from. I'd say Mpls., and they would literally ask me where Mpls. was! I would say, "You know, where Prince is from, they filmed Purple Rain there, etc." just to give them a point of reference, and I would get this blank stare back. They would say something like, "Prince? Oh! Yeah, I remember him. That little gay guy, right? What ever happened to him?" Although, the question of his race has never really come up in these discussions, so I really have no idea if these people knew or considered whether he was black, mixed, or whatever.

july said:

sounds like a speech from Ward Connelly.
if prince isn't black, then no african american here is black

july said:

i got all that goin on in my family as well, yet i and some other members of my family don't look "mixed". and your point is?

also, the essay you cut and pasted here still ain't matchin up with the topic, july. you're still stuck within the utopitarian thing that i had told you about the other day. come back widdit again, next time get it right....it ain't hard....



good lawd, edit!
[This message was edited Mon Sep 8 6:31:54 PDT 2003 by Handclapsfingasnapz]

LadyCabDriver said:

Did you even read what I said before you mashed the keyboard to reply?

I said it was a *FILM* that *PORTRAYED* him as having interracial parents.

So uh, HELLO?? The fact that u need this pointed out is sad..

Prince is black?

Hopefully this thread won't turn into the next Org Exodus, but I gotta give my two cents. I can only speak to my experience. Back in the day, when Prince was not claiming his African heritage or he and WB were downplaying his race in order to market him to a wider audience, it made me feel sad. Back as a young black teenager, I thought "What's wrong with being black?" On top of that, I didn't see him with women who looked like me so I was really confused. I felt more negativity towards him then for playing himself off as non-black. Like BlaqueKnight said, to anyone black, there was never any doubt just like there is no doubt with Mariah or Tiger.

stymie said:

good points, stymie.

stymie said:

Good response, stymie!

I think the irony here is that homey flips it and plays the race card by writing "Slave" on his face when "the Man" tries to hold him down. (I think MJ's "Tommy Matola is the devil" was another example by playing the RC.)

UptownDeb said:

Sometimes on these boards, Deb, I hold back a whole lot what I think when it comes to Prince and the race thing. Was selling records more important to him than who he truly was? The 'slave' thing? I would have gladly traded places with him if I could be a 'slave' in his sense of the word.

stymie said:

co-sign. that whole 'slave' trip wuz a whole bunch of nonsense to me. i know full-well that p thought it wuz nonsensical, too...i'd get into this a bit more, but that's a whole other thread.

right on with your points as well, deb!


one mo' edit...
[This message was edited Mon Sep 8 8:16:46 PDT 2003 by Handclapsfingasnapz]

july said:[quote]

july said:

Okay, we are all black... I am mixed though... It don't matter... Let's dance...